TOP NEWS: China offers rewards to six regions to fight air pollution

China said on Monday it would
give rewards amounting to 5 billion yuan ($816.91
million) for curbing air pollution in six regions where
the problem is serious, underscoring government
concern about a source of public anger.
The Finance Ministry said the regions eligible for therewards were Beijing and its neighboring city of
Tianjin, the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong,
as well as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The awards would be made at the end of the year and
would be determined by pollution reduction targets,
investment in tackling the problem and falls in PM 2.5
particles, which are especially bad for health, the
ministry said on its website.
The provinces of Shanxi and Inner Mongolia are
among China's top coal-producing provinces and have
been a major source of air pollution.
Smog over northern cities in January generated
widespread anger as did the discovery of thousands of
dead pigs in March in a river that supplies water to
the city of Shanghai.
Protests over pollution in China are becoming
common, to the government's alarm. Authorities have
invested in various projects to fight pollution and even
empowered courts to mete out the death penalty in
serious pollution cases.
But the results have been mixed. Enforcement of rules
has been patchy at the local level, where district
authorities often rely on taxes from polluting
industries.
State media said in July the government planned to
invest 1.7 trillion yuan ($277 billion) to fight air
pollution over the next five years.